Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Wonderful Wednesday..."Boo!"

Have you ever been "Booed?" No, I'm not talking about playing poorly in a sporting event. I'm talking Halloweeeeeeen. Did that sound as spooky when you read it as it did in my head?

When my parents lived in Pennsylvania, their neighbors had a tradition of "Booing." I had never heard of it before, and we had lived all over the country! Here's the deal. Someone brings a treat secretly to your door with a note that says "You've been Booed." Your family gets to enjoy the special treat and then you pass on the fun to another family. It is pretty cool. I was jealous. Why didn't my neighbors ever do this?

Look what I found online this week:

Have you ever been on "the tomkat studio?" It is amazing! It is one of the greatest party blogs out there! My dream job is to spend my days making parties like they feature. Aaahh...I can just imagine it. The tomkat studio has this printable on their website for FREE! It is beautiful and FREE! Thanks tomkat!!

Again I wondered why my neighbors don't do this. Really? What is my problem? Why am I waiting on everyone else to do this? Why don't I do it? I decided I was going to start a Halloween Revolution. Ok, maybe a revolution is a bit dramatic, but wouldn't it be fun to see how many people I could get to start "Booing" this Halloween?

I took the printable from tomkat and trimmed off the edges. Then I took some jewels and glued them onto each of the candle bases. Next I put a few lines of glue on the word Boo. It is difficult to see in the photo, but these little details make a big difference. It takes it from a computer print out, to a special piece. The details are what always make something special.

I used glue to mount the printed page onto a black sheet. Next, I punched holes in the top.

I used the holes to attach a sparkly black ribbon to make a hanger. Now I can hang the sign right on the doorknob!

Here is my delima...I have a problem with a treat showing up at my door. I don't know who it came from and I am supposed to let me kids eat it? Really? Think about it...it is kind of creepy. If I don't know where something came from it goes in the trash. I had wanted to make some beautiful homemade treats, but then I really couldn't leave them secretly...not without it seeming weird. So I decided on a compromise. I would have store bought candies...they are wrapped...not quite so creepy...and a homemade decorative treat. If my friends find the candy creepy, they can throw it out...no feelings hurt...and they still get a fun treat they can keep without being worried about where it came from. Perfect!

I had an idea in my head. Michaels had some little decorative black frames in their Dollar section that I thought would make really cute magnets. Of course when I went to pick them up, my store didn't have them in stock. Shocker! However, this turned out to be a blessing. When I got home I started looking through my craft supplies. I found the PERFECT solution in my stash of things...and something else to do too!

These came in a pack of two from the Dollar Store. Not only were they half the price...they were already at my house! The only drawback is they are plastic...so they look plastic. Unless, you cover them with spray paint! I took my frames apart, sprayed a coat of primer and then another coat of Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Ultra Cover Black Gloss. Now they are looking good!

While my frames were drying, I took the backs and gave them a good coat of spray adhesive.

Once they were sprayed, I pressed them onto a piece of burlap fabric.

When the adhesive had bonded for a few minutes with the burlap, I cut out my pieces.

I found tagboard letters that represented the last name of each of the families we were going to "Boo!" I painted each letter black with a coat of acrylic paint. When the paint dried, I painted them again with a coat of Elmer's Glue and then sprinkled with black glitter. Once the letters were dry, I glued them onto the center of the burlap piece.

Could these be any cuter? I took a magnet and hot glued it to the back of each of the frames. They have the option of standing like a traditional frame or being used on the fridge. I think they are adorable and will be making some for my fridge or maybe for our large magnet board.

Just look at the sweet details! They are even cuter than the picture shows!

I also found these in my craft stash:

I paid 99 cents for each of these little photo albums. I took some sample white paint, a foam brush and some stencils...this was so easy!

The book on the right shows how it looked after stamping the paint. I wasn't impressed. It was almost transparent, but not in a good way. It just looked cheap. So I used a paintbrush to touch up the words after they had dried from the stamp. Much better! The album on the left shows what the word looked like after the touch ups. Not a big deal, but I really do believe that the details are what matter!

I thought of one more homemade goody to put with our surprise. I had several burlap pennant flags that I had inherited from a friend. Thanks M! I took the stamps again and stamped BOO with black acrylic paint. When the paint dried I went over the letters with Elmer's glue and then sprinkled them with black glitter. I then took several pieces of ribbon that were black and creme colored and tied them on the bottom. I will definitely be using this idea again!

We all can't wait to go and deliver our surprises! Our new Halloween tradition...

I have always wanted to do this and just never seem to get around to it. Maybe this year! Thanks so much for the fabulous ideas - I really love those little pennants. Thanks for linking up to The Creative Spark - I will be featuring this today. Have a great weekend!Jenn :)

how fun are those boos. My neighborhood I grew up in used to do this. It was so fun for us kids. Maybe I should bring this into my neighborhood now. Thanks for the inspiration and cute ideas. Thank you so much sharing and for linking up to our party Show and Share this week! Come on back this Wednesday to link up your current projects.

A mommy's life...with a touch of YELLOWtyandwhitneyulrich.blogspot.com